John L. Anderson

Service Details

A celebration of Mr. Anderson’s life, with full military honors, will be held in the funeral home on Friday, January 19th at 11:00 a.m. Relatives and friends can meet with the family from 10:00 a.m. until the time of the Service.

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John L. Anderson, age 92, died peacefully in his sleep on Thursday, January 11, 2024, at Ascension All Saints Hospital in the presence of his wonderful floor nurses.

John was born in Racine on August 16, 1931, to Lester V. and Norma V. (nee Prostrednik) Anderson. As a boy, he remembers “shagging balls” for the Racine Belles, and his mother would occasionally host them at their home on Hamilton St. John attended Lincoln School, Washington Junior High School, and was a 1949 graduate of Wm. Horlick High School. He attended Lawrence College in Appleton and was initiated into the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity in his junior year. He won all-school wrestling honors at Lawrence, competing with the Viking varsity for three seasons. He also attended the Layton School of Art in Milwaukee for a short time.

As a boy, he marched with the American Legion Drum Corps. His love of drum corps was later shared with his own family by attending annual competitions at Horlick Field during the heyday of the 1960s and 1970s.

John proudly served in the United States Marine Corps from January 1952 to January 1954, achieving the rank of Sergeant in December 1953. At the age of 90, he was able to go on the Honor Flight to Washington, DC, accompanied by his beloved grandson Michael.

He married the love of his life, the former Barbara Ann Broecker, on June 20, 1959, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Racine. They had two daughters, Jennifer and Katheran.

John had a varied employment career ranging from paperboy, to supervisor of the Media Scheduling Department at Foote-Cone and Belding advertising agency in Detroit during the “Mad Men” era, handling automotive accounts, including Edsel. He was also a salesman for Western Printing’s Whitman line, all of this before he married in 1959. He then became an assistant market research manager at Jacobsen Manufacturing Company. Later, he was the bookstore manager and wrestling coach at St. Catherine’s High School. Always a gifted writer, during the 1970’s he worked under Ralph Trower at the Racine Journal Times as a sports reporter covering high school prep, a job that he loved. He did freelance writing for the Shoreline Leader and later launched a short-lived local paper of his own called Ra-Scene. Later still, he worked as an inspector at Twin-Disc.

He was active in the Racine Dairy Statesmen through the 1960s and into the 1970s and was elected public relations director of the Land O’ Lakes District in 1964. He edited the publication “The Bellows,” winning first place in an international competition in 1967. He was also named Barbershopper of the Year in 1967. He was vice president of PROBE for two terms, a public relations and publications affiliate of S.P.E.B.S.Q.S.A. John was the Saturday morning radio host of “Harmony Time” on WRJN, also in the 1960s.

John had many interests and hobbies over the years, including woodworking, fishing, beekeeping, gardening, collecting, going to garage sales and antique shows, and raising tropical fish and guinea pigs. He had a deep love of animals and had many pets throughout his life. John was always an avid fan of Wisconsin sports teams, especially the Green Bay Packers.

John leaves to mourn his death his daughters Jennifer (Donald) Lightner of Franksville and Katheran Olsen and her life partner Charlie Puder of Sturtevant. Grandson Michael (Lisa) Olsen of Sturtevant, twin granddaughters Erica (David) Beranis of Franksville, and Rachael Olsen of Racine. Grandsons Peter (Hilary) Olsen of So. Milwaukee and Nicholas (Lori) Olsen of Oshkosh. Grandsons Joshua (Sonya) Lightner of Sheboygan Falls and Jacob Lightner of Sturtevant. He had 15 great-grandchildren and had another on the way. Other family, friends, and neighbors.

He was preceded in death by his wife Barbara on June 13, 2006, his former son-in-law Michael R. Olsen in 2016, and his parents Les and Norma.

John’s cremated remains will be combined with those of his wife, and they will be laid to rest together in the Anderson family plot at Mound Cemetery in Racine, the plot having been established by his great-grandmother in 1917.